Annual ROV Operations Spend to Top $3.2 Billion by 2014
Annual oil & gas industry expenditure on work-class ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) operations is likely to reach $3.2 billion by 2014 – with African and Asia Pacific expenditure overtaking that of Western Europe in the coming years. These are amongst the findings in the new edition of “The World ROV Market Report 2010-14,” a market study published today by energy business analysts Douglas-Westwood.
The study reveals that the worldwide ROV business has been impacted by the economic downturn, but to a far lesser extent than many other oil & gas services sectors. It suggests that growth prospects for the market are considerable, predicting that an additional 547 additional work-class ROV units will be needed between 2010 and 2014 to meet increased demand for operations and counter the effects of attrition on the current fleet.
“The future of the offshore oil & gas industry lies in the deepwater subsea developments and major discoveries such as those recently announced off Brazil, in the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa,” explained Rod Westwood, lead market analyst at Douglas-Westwood. “Work-class ROVs are a key enabling technology for producing from deepwater fields and considerable numbers will be needed to access these major new oil & gas reserves.”
Commenting on the technology, Douglas-Westwood analyst, Paul Newman, said: “ROVs used in the oil and gas sector have been developing for more than 30 years and are now considered a mature technology, especially in terms of vehicle hardware. However, on the software side, current research and development is primarily aimed at increasing the levels of autonomy and ‘intelligence’ needed to reduce pilot workload. Increasing the number of tasks that can be automated will allow for a reduction in manpower and may eventually lead to AUV/ROV hybrid vehicles capable of performing inspection and light intervention tasks without constant control.”
Source: ‘The World ROV Market Report 2010-2014’, Douglas-Westwood
